Ubuntu 11.10 comes with murrine engine and unico engine by default. So ubuntu users don't need to install them. For other distros, see the instructions below.
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Ubuntu users can install Ambiance Blue from our themes PPA using the following commands,
Extract the zip file to the themes directory i.e. "~/.themes/" or "/usr/share/themes/"
Use Gnome Tweak tool to choose the themes.
Install the User Theme Extension and use the Gnome Tweak tool to choose the themes.
Install the AWN theme via the preferences dialog of AWN.
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Credits:
Ubuntu Developers who created the Ambiance theme.
half-left http://half-left.deviantart.com/ whose works were a base for my first Gnome Shell theme.
Andrew http://webupd8.org for initial packaging for Ubuntu.
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Note:
If you use Gnome 3.2, download the theme from launchpad https://launchpad.net/~satyajit-happy/+archive/themes/+files/ambiance-blue-theme_2012.01.27-0~satya164~oneiric.tar.gz
This theme is not compatible with old Gnome 3.0.Last changelog:
30.05.2012 - 1.Code cleanup and minor changes to the Gnome Shell theme
11.05.2012 - 1.Fixes and enhancements to the Gnome Shell theme
10.05.2012 - 1.Updated for Gnome 3.4 with many improvements to the Gnome Shell theme
27.01.2012 - 1.Fixed banshee search entry 26.01.2012 - 1.Improvements to toolbar background 26.01.2012 - 2.Added border to sidebar 26.01.2012 - 3.Added support for Chrome/Chromium 26.01.2012 - 4.Various improvements
28.12.2011 - 1.Changed toolbar background to light 28.12.2011 - 2.Decreased font size in Gnome Shell theme 28.12.2011 - 3.Other misc improvements
05.12.2011 - 1.Visual refinements
20.11.2011 - 1.Added support for Mint Gnome Shell Extensions 20.11.2011 - 2.Decreased panel height 20.11.2011 - 3.Various improvements
19.10.2011 - 1.Complete rewrite of the Shell Theme 19.10.2011 - 2.New toggle and close buttons 19.10.2011 - 3.New scrollbars
29.08.2011 - 1.Ported to GTK3 29.08.2011 - 2.Added Gnome Shell Theme 29.08.2011 - 3.Added Avant Window Navigator Theme 29.08.2011 - 4.Changed menu colors to dark
08.02.2011 - 1.Fixed menu gradient, looked odd. 08.02.2011 - 2.Fixed light text colour in some places. 08.02.2011 - 3.Fixed Panel. 08.02.2011 - 4.Fixed could not install from 'Appearance Preferences'. 08.02.2011 - 5.Included README file.
07.02.2011 - 1.Fixed metacity theme and various colour issues. 07.02.2011 - 2.Changed default menu colours to light. 07.02.2011 - 3.Optional borderless metacity theme.
01.01.2011 - 1.Fixed the menu bar color. (Thanks to th3pr0ph3t) 01.01.2011 - 2.Close button edge color changed to gray. (Thanks to th3pr0ph3t) 01.01.2011 - 3.Fixed some packaging errors.
Hi. I won't be updating the theme anymore. However, for the shell theme, you can install "gnome-shell-theme-elegance-colors" and use the preset "Matte".
From what I could see is a great theme but sadly doesn't seem to work on ubuntu 12.10 (the theme wasn't available on the ppa for this version either). Review this screenshot: http://oi47.tinypic.com/33bzacj.jpg look at the bookmarks menu, the text area looks colorless, and this happens on all menus. I reviewed and I have the murrine and unico engines installed, don't know if this happens because you're using a different version.
Absolutely love the colours on this theme. Thank you!
I have one query though, which code in which file do I change to adjust the font colour that I see in Firefox drop down URL history ?
I love the light blue it has but unfortunately against the medium greyish backdrop I can not read it (strange colour on colour tolerance with my eyes).
If you can advise and maybe briefly also advise what else that particular change will affect I would be most grateful.
Stretch
I love this theme but when I am listening to music with rhythmbox I notice that notifications are partially hidden in the bottom ...
I have "solved" this by replacing the "9px" by a "2px" padding in the gnome-shell.css file, line 1209 (#notification).
I am using the Faenza icon theme, which also replace the default rhythmbox icon.
And thanks for this awesome theme !
For a change, I would like to offer a minor contribution to Ambiance Blue - my no. 1 theme.
When you press F3 and enter into dual pane mode in Nautilus it's nice to have the inactive pane with a light gray background (which was missing at least as far as I can see ;-)
This can be achieved by inserting the following lines below line number 10 and immediately above the section "/* desktop mode */"
(./gtk-3.0/apps/nautilus.css)
=================================================
.nautilus-inactive-pane .view {
background-color: shade (@base_color, 0.96);
}
.nautilus-inactive-pane .view:selected,
.nautilus-inactive-pane .nautilus-canvas-item:selected {
background-color: @backdrop_selected_bg_color;
color: @backdrop_selected_fg_color;
}
.nautilus-inactive-pane .expander.view:selected {
background-color: @backdrop_selected_bg_color;
}
Thanks but the problem is gone now.
Probably there's nothing you should do more...
After realizing that it doesn't affect Nautilus as Root, I used Bleachbit (both as user and root) to perform a thorough cleaning including all cache, etc. and then rebooted my computer.
Now I don't have the problem any more :-)
It must have been a system bug with cache or something...
I'm glad it's over now :-)
It seems there are still a couple of things to do in nautilus.css (e.g. inactive pane (F3) needs a slightly gray background).
My temporary solution: use a symbolic link from Zukitwo-Dark theme instead.
I also think that sidebar and toolbar background colors are not the same, and a little darker shade could look better.
"I also think that sidebar and toolbar background colors are not the same"
How can they be exactly same. The toolbar uses a gradient and the sidebar uses a color exactly in between, so almost same.
I don't know much about theming, but I see that there are 3 different styles adopted for Nautilus among the most popular themes, which of course includes your Ambiance Blue and Orion:
1) Sidebar and Toolbar background colors are very different. Examples: Ambiance and Adwaita
2) Sidebar and Toolbar background colors are slightly different. Examples: Ambiance Blue and Radiance
3) Sidebar and Toolbar background colors are no different. Examples: Zukitwo and its variants
Maybe there is a slight difference which I cannot see.
Of course it's just my personal humble opinion that my favorite theme Ambiance Blue could perhaps look better if the Nautilus sidebar background color could be slightly darker and closer to the (dominant) shade of color in the toolbar.
It's not a big deal of course...
See, in the sidebar,
background-color: shade (@theme_bg_color, 0.95);
In the toolbar,
background-image: -gtk-gradient (linear, left top, left bottom,
from (shade (@theme_bg_color, 0.96)),
to (shade (@theme_bg_color, 0.94)));
So the background of sidebar is almost same as the toolbar. My eyes don't see a difference!
In the face of these hard facts (and your younger and healthier looking eyes ;-) I think I must check my monitor, display card and my aging eyes ;-)
It's strange though. I don't experience such problem with Zukitwo... I'll check this out...
Sorry for taking your time...
Thanks a lot...
I've checked and seen that it's not the monitor.
I've even used the nautilus.css from Zukitwo instead of yours, no difference.
Here are the screenshots of Ambiance Blue, Zukitwo and Zukitwo-Dark themes all in one file (to check if it's because of my eyes ;-)
http://i.minus.com/iqWfyIDJ6MUWL.png
Finally, a very odd thing:
I've just realised that I don't have this problem when I open Nautilus as Root -- with exactly the same themes selected!
No file permission issues, all of my themes are in /usr/share/themes...
An interesting puzzle!!!
I think I solved the puzzle. There are two sidebar styles declared. One in the gtk-widgets.css file and one in the nautilus.css file.
The declaration in nautilus.css is specified only for nautilus and the styles in gtk-widgets.css should be overriden by it (it is a basic rule in CSS and it happens so in my system). Probably there is a bug or what. But gonna fix it anyways :)
Ratings & Comments
47 Comments
sudo apt-get install ambiance-blue-theme returned and E: not found. Please update.
Hi. I won't be updating the theme anymore. However, for the shell theme, you can install "gnome-shell-theme-elegance-colors" and use the preset "Matte".
From what I could see is a great theme but sadly doesn't seem to work on ubuntu 12.10 (the theme wasn't available on the ppa for this version either). Review this screenshot: http://oi47.tinypic.com/33bzacj.jpg look at the bookmarks menu, the text area looks colorless, and this happens on all menus. I reviewed and I have the murrine and unico engines installed, don't know if this happens because you're using a different version.
Absolutely love the colours on this theme. Thank you! I have one query though, which code in which file do I change to adjust the font colour that I see in Firefox drop down URL history ? I love the light blue it has but unfortunately against the medium greyish backdrop I can not read it (strange colour on colour tolerance with my eyes). If you can advise and maybe briefly also advise what else that particular change will affect I would be most grateful. Stretch
I installed as per your instructions and can set the theme in gnome-tweak-tool but I cant select the icon theme. How do i get the blue folder icons?
Use an icon theme like Faeince Azure.
I love this theme but when I am listening to music with rhythmbox I notice that notifications are partially hidden in the bottom ... I have "solved" this by replacing the "9px" by a "2px" padding in the gnome-shell.css file, line 1209 (#notification). I am using the Faenza icon theme, which also replace the default rhythmbox icon. And thanks for this awesome theme !
For a change, I would like to offer a minor contribution to Ambiance Blue - my no. 1 theme. When you press F3 and enter into dual pane mode in Nautilus it's nice to have the inactive pane with a light gray background (which was missing at least as far as I can see ;-) This can be achieved by inserting the following lines below line number 10 and immediately above the section "/* desktop mode */" (./gtk-3.0/apps/nautilus.css) ================================================= .nautilus-inactive-pane .view { background-color: shade (@base_color, 0.96); } .nautilus-inactive-pane .view:selected, .nautilus-inactive-pane .nautilus-canvas-item:selected { background-color: @backdrop_selected_bg_color; color: @backdrop_selected_fg_color; } .nautilus-inactive-pane .expander.view:selected { background-color: @backdrop_selected_bg_color; }
Your contribution is most welcome :)
Thanks but the problem is gone now. Probably there's nothing you should do more... After realizing that it doesn't affect Nautilus as Root, I used Bleachbit (both as user and root) to perform a thorough cleaning including all cache, etc. and then rebooted my computer. Now I don't have the problem any more :-) It must have been a system bug with cache or something... I'm glad it's over now :-)
It seems there are still a couple of things to do in nautilus.css (e.g. inactive pane (F3) needs a slightly gray background). My temporary solution: use a symbolic link from Zukitwo-Dark theme instead. I also think that sidebar and toolbar background colors are not the same, and a little darker shade could look better.
"I also think that sidebar and toolbar background colors are not the same" How can they be exactly same. The toolbar uses a gradient and the sidebar uses a color exactly in between, so almost same.
I don't know much about theming, but I see that there are 3 different styles adopted for Nautilus among the most popular themes, which of course includes your Ambiance Blue and Orion: 1) Sidebar and Toolbar background colors are very different. Examples: Ambiance and Adwaita 2) Sidebar and Toolbar background colors are slightly different. Examples: Ambiance Blue and Radiance 3) Sidebar and Toolbar background colors are no different. Examples: Zukitwo and its variants Maybe there is a slight difference which I cannot see. Of course it's just my personal humble opinion that my favorite theme Ambiance Blue could perhaps look better if the Nautilus sidebar background color could be slightly darker and closer to the (dominant) shade of color in the toolbar. It's not a big deal of course...
See, in the sidebar, background-color: shade (@theme_bg_color, 0.95); In the toolbar, background-image: -gtk-gradient (linear, left top, left bottom, from (shade (@theme_bg_color, 0.96)), to (shade (@theme_bg_color, 0.94))); So the background of sidebar is almost same as the toolbar. My eyes don't see a difference!
In the face of these hard facts (and your younger and healthier looking eyes ;-) I think I must check my monitor, display card and my aging eyes ;-) It's strange though. I don't experience such problem with Zukitwo... I'll check this out... Sorry for taking your time... Thanks a lot...
I've checked and seen that it's not the monitor. I've even used the nautilus.css from Zukitwo instead of yours, no difference. Here are the screenshots of Ambiance Blue, Zukitwo and Zukitwo-Dark themes all in one file (to check if it's because of my eyes ;-) http://i.minus.com/iqWfyIDJ6MUWL.png Finally, a very odd thing: I've just realised that I don't have this problem when I open Nautilus as Root -- with exactly the same themes selected! No file permission issues, all of my themes are in /usr/share/themes... An interesting puzzle!!!
I think I solved the puzzle. There are two sidebar styles declared. One in the gtk-widgets.css file and one in the nautilus.css file. The declaration in nautilus.css is specified only for nautilus and the styles in gtk-widgets.css should be overriden by it (it is a basic rule in CSS and it happens so in my system). Probably there is a bug or what. But gonna fix it anyways :)
Hello, could you please let me know which icone theme is used on the 3rd screenshot? Thank you!
It's the default icon theme of GNOME.
Thank you for your prompt reply :-)
Beautiful the number one , thanks
for an update to continue using this wonderful theme in Ubuntu 12.04 as well ;-)
Finally ported. Took a hell lot of time. First, the GTK Theme, and then the Gnome Shell theme.
thanks a lot. but so sorry to let you know that nautilus still has white text all over...
I had by mistake uploaded the wrong package. Update it again and your problem should be solved.